I had pretty well returned to my starting point and looked at the specs of the 'Zip' - it seems to be both well liked and within my budget; your reference to 'Rockbox' is also very interesting but did I read somewhere that it is still under development with a number of glitches still to be ironed out?

Rockbox is under continous development. The Clip Zip port is listed as unstable due the manual missing images and a couple of the plugins not being not being fully updated to work on the CZ. Day to day playback features work just fine for me.

With or without Rockbox the the Clip Zip should work well as an audiobook player. Any files you place in either the Podcast or the Audiobook folder bookmark when you stop using them. When you return you're offered the option to resume or restart the file.

Rockbox does offer several more options like multiple bookmarks per file and autoresume. However if all you need is a simple bookmark then resume function the stock firmware should work just fine.

I honestly can't understand all the hatred for this player, theres so many negative reviews for this player I actually avoided it and went for a Kubik Evo 8GB player, when it arrived I couldn't believe how cheap 'n' tacky it was and incredibly unintuitive software. It switched on once and refused to boot up again so I had to return it to Amazon for a refund.

So I ordered a Fuze+ instead with some trepidation (I found it for the same price as the Evo as a "refurbished" unit)...

Anyway to cut a long story short, I love it. It's so much better than the Evo its untrue.

I honestly can't understand all the hatred for this player, theres so many negative reviews for this player I actually avoided it and went for a Kubik Evo 8GB player, when it arrived I couldn't believe how cheap 'n' tacky it was and incredibly unintuitive software. It switched on once and refused to boot up again so I had to return it to Amazon for a refund.

So I ordered a Fuze+ instead with some trepidation (I found it for the same price as the Evo as a "refurbished" unit)...

Anyway to cut a long story short, I love it. It's so much better than the Evo its untrue.

It sounds very nice (just like the other Sansas), but the touch controls are infuriating to use if you have used another Sansa that has proper buttons.

I honestly can't understand all the hatred for this player, theres so many negative reviews for this player I actually avoided it and went for a Kubik Evo 8GB player, when it arrived I couldn't believe how cheap 'n' tacky it was and incredibly unintuitive software. It switched on once and refused to boot up again so I had to return it to Amazon for a refund.

So I ordered a Fuze+ instead with some trepidation (I found it for the same price as the Evo as a "refurbished" unit)...

Anyway to cut a long story short, I love it. It's so much better than the Evo its untrue.

No one said there weren't worse players out there. If, instead of a well-regarded alternative (e.g. a Cowon, Sony, Samsung, or a different model of Sansa), you choose a cheap device by an obscure brand like Kubik...then, sure, I can see the Fuze+ being an improvement.

using my fuze+ right now running latest build of rockbox and it's near perfect. only problem is that it's impossible to use while in pocket or without looking at the screen. fixed that by attaching it to a lanyard.

using my fuze+ right now running latest build of rockbox and it's near perfect. only problem is that it's impossible to use while in pocket or without looking at the screen. fixed that by attaching it to a lanyard.

We obviously have different definitions of perfect....lol. Granted, I didn't upgrade the Rockbox build, but I just fired mine up, and just the process of initializing the database and setting an album to shuffle was almost enough to make me throw it across the room...and I am a very laid-back kind of guy.

It never stops where I want it to in the menus, and trying to reverse direction to get back to what I wanted is just as bad.

We obviously have different definitions of perfect....lol. Granted, I didn't upgrade the Rockbox build, but I just fired mine up, and just the process of initializing the database and setting an album to shuffle was almost enough to make me throw it across the room...and I am a very laid-back kind of guy.

It never stops where I want it to in the menus, and trying to reverse direction to get back to what I wanted is just as bad.

treat the controls like a grid. bottom left and right scroll up and down very quickly. tap up or down instead of holding up or down to navigate menus. i actually find the controls easier to chose a song quicker than the scroll wheel on my fuze.

... i actually find the controls easier to chose a song quicker than the scroll wheel on my fuze.

Considering I never found the scroll wheel of the original Fuze a prize winner in the ease of navigation department that's not saying a lot.

For me it comes down to a matter of expectations. When I use a device I expect it to behave in a predictable fashion. A tap should bring one result, a hold should bring it's expected reaction. That should happen in a predictably whenever I perform that action. Anything just else isn't acceptable to me. It works that way with all my other devices, why should the Fuze+ be different?

I got a Cowon iAudio 9 a couple of months ago. I had hesitated for a long time due to reports of the poor UI and wonky touch pad. Turns out the UI reports were true but the touchpad works just fine. Since I really like the sound I was willing to work through the issues I had with the UI.

That was because when I did something on the touchpad I knew how it would react. If something didn't react the way I expected I knew it was me, not the player.

If it had given me the sluggish, unpredictable behavior of the Fuze+ it wouldn't have mattered how it sounded, I would have dumped it. Life's too short to be frustrated by a music player that won't behave the way I need.

I've said a few times, if the Fuze+ worked the way I needed I'd have one. The capacity, build quality and price would put it right up there with my other favorite players. The way the touchpad works is what makes it not worth spending my money.

That's a good comparison skip...bringing up the i9 as another player with a touchpad. I would also add the Samsung Q2 that I had....both of them were serviceable , and indeed, I owned and used both of those players for a while. The Fuze+, not so much.

I don't regret having it be a part of a multi-device trade though...I feel more qualified to give my opinion on a device I've actually used, unlike some members here. (and no, not referring to anyone in this thread, at least up until this post)

I don't have a problem with someone commenting about a device they don't own or haven't experienced. Especially if the comments are about specifications or well documented issues. Saying one device's UI is better or worse is something different imo. You really have to experience that to know how it works for you.

I think it's OK to point out reviews or be willing to link to opinions of those who have experienced a UI. Saying "I wouldn't buy the Fuze+, the UI sucks" based on what's been said in this thread isn't quite honest. Saying "There's some over at ABi that think the Fuze+ UI sucks" then providing a link to this thread would be the way to do that. One gives the impression of personal experience, the other makes it clear you're basing your advice on the opinions of others.

Just saying "Some people say" doesn't give the person you're advising the basis for your opinion. Providing a link so that person can investigate for themselves is the way to go if you're going to use other people opinions as a basis for advice.

Hmm, interesting responses. I guess it comes down to expectations. I used to have a Vision M for many years and was very happy with it but the inevitable happened and the hard drive went to the great iPod in the sky.

Being on a budget the Clip+ was cheap and everyone seemed to recommend it so picked one up... 8 months later its dead and I'm not happy, hated the thing to be honest.

So following a recommendation (not from here I hasten to add but a "respected" forum) I bought a Kubik which was even worse, then I found the Fuze+ very cheap and it plays videos too which I really missed, so I'm v. happy. Well, apart from teh controls which I will admit is poor...

but if I had a couple of hundred notes to blow again I'd pick up the latest all singing all dancing 'pod to be sure.

Well, I just put the current build of Rockbox on my Fuze+ (yeah, I'm bored). End result....a slight improvement in the touchpad sensitivity, but not enough for me to use the thing on any kind of regular basis.

Although now that i think about it, I might make it into my work player.....I certainly wouldn't be upset if something was to happen to it...lol. Plug it into the stereo there and press play in shuffle mode, it should be OK for that use.

At one point, I had three identical players, and two of them were not getting used.....so I sold one, and traded one for this thing, because I wanted to see for myself if it lived up to the horror stories. I have no regrets...the other two players got good homes where they are being used, and I have been able to advise others about this device.